The first week of Autumn has a long history. Here’s a few choice nuggets!
September 26, 1960 – First televised debate between Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy, ushering in a new age of television and media into politics.
September 27, 1979 – The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency.
September 28, 1892 – The first night game for American football takes place in a contest between Wyoming Seminary and Mansfield State Normal. Both are schools in NE Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the game was called at half-time at a 0-0 tie as lighting was inadequate to keep playing after players has run into light poles. This historic game is celebrated by a yearly reenactment of the original game played between Wyoming Seminary and Mansfield State Normal School during an autumn festival known as the “Fabulous 1890s Weekend.” The re-enactment of the game is a play-by-play version of the actual game as recorded. Fans who watch the game are sometimes known to correct players when they deviate from the original recorded plays.
September 29, 1789 – The United States Department of War first establishes a regular army with a strength of several hundred men, thus establishing the US Army. Most of the men had served in the colonial army during the revolutionary war and had continued to serve for the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation. Happy Birthday Army!
September 30, 1927 – Baltimore native, Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a season. He broke his own season record of 59 set in 1921. The 60th HR ended a hitting barrage led by Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Together, they hit 105 home runs that season. Together with additional sluggers Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri, they made up the Yankees’ line-up dubbed, “Murderers’ Row,” and won the World Series with a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Incidentally, Home Run #60 came against the Washington Senators.
October 1, 1982 – EPCOT Center opens as the second theme park at Walt Disney World. The park’s name, EPCOT, is an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, a utopian city of the future planned by Walt Disney, often interchanging “city” and “community.” In Walt Disney’s words: “EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing, and testing, and demonstrating new materials and new systems.
October 2, 1950 – Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published. To see the original strip, go to: http://peanuts.wikia.com/wiki/October_1950_comic_strips
